Richard Mendenhall, president of the Manumission Society of North Carolina, decries the extreme injustice in forcing "men into perpetual servitude" and consigning "their posterity to unconditional & unlimited Slavery,” citing that the principle "of humanity, of Christianity, and all the tender ties of human Nature recoil at such a state of degradation." Mendenhall represents that "this state holds upwards of two hundred thousand Slaves" or "near one third of its population" in "the most abject state of Slavery." He therefore suggests "the propriety of softening" the hardship "of Slavery in our State, with a view to its final extinction." In particular, the petitioner asks "why cannot we fix a time, (it has been done in other States) when there shall be no more slaves born among us." He also reports that "it is ascertained that the Government of Hayti has offered to receive as many of our black population as we are willing to send."
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Repository: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina
